Laguna open space tax fails

LAGUNA BEACH – Local voters came out against a parcel tax to buy open space within the city limits, according to preliminary reports from the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

In all, 4,564 voted yes on Measure CC and 5,793 voted no for a majority of about 56 percent of the vote. The measure would have imposed a $120 per year tax on property owners for 20 years. Funds would go toward purchasing undeveloped land within the city as deals could be negotiated with willing sellers. An oversight committee would make recommendations to the City Council, which would vote on all sales.

Supporters and detractors were vocal in the weeks leading up to the election. Michele Hall, president of Laguna Beach Republicans, said her group opposed the tax, though many of its members supported a 1990 bond to purchase open land in Laguna Canyon.

"We marched for the canyon," she said. "(Measure CC) was bad policy, in our opinion."

She said she supported open space in general, but she didn't like that Measure CC couldn't specify which land would be purchased.

Michael Kinsman, president of the Chamber of Commerce board, voted against the open space measure. He doubted it could achieve the results its supporters hoped for, adding many open lots in town are unbuildable.

"Raising the money they wanted to raise for it was a recipe for raising that price of open space that would remain open anyway," he said.

Outside a North Laguna polling station, several residents voiced their support for the measure.

Susanne Dunne, 65, said she had consistently supported open space since she moved to Laguna Beach in 1969.

"I think that's one of the better things about Laguna Beach," she said.

Brian Wollner, 31, said he supported Republican candidates but also supported adding open space locally.

"I just enjoy space, land preservation," he said. "I'm willing to pay for it.

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